Soldes 1, 5675

We are still traveling south, but today we will start heading slightly to the east as we round this corner of Lake Icavor. Even farther south is a low range of mountains, the southern boundary of the Lake Icavor drainage basin. They are nowhere near as tall as the Red Mountains west of Lake Icavor. I have never seen the range named on any maps I’ve studied, but if I had to name them, I would probably call them the Icavor Mountains. It seems fitting, considering the importance of their dividing Lake Icavor from the lands of Etnyben further south. I think an army might have a better time bringing supplies between these two ranges than bringing them along the inhospitable shore of Lake Icavor.

Yesterday we had a violent rainstorm. It rained hard enough that we could completely restock our water supplies just by holding the containers out to catch the rain. Since the storm came from over the Red Mountains, it caught us by surprise. Our first indication of the coming storm was a flash flood, a torrential flow of water down a dry streambed we were about to cross. We managed to escape to higher ground, but that left us exposed for the storm quickly coming our way.

Shelter was a problem. The best we could do was find a large boulder, and seek shelter beside it. We were fortunate. A landslide uphill from us passed on either side of the boulder.

When the storm passed, much of the land around us was different. The streambed where we saw the flash flood was now a washed-out canyon for us to cross. Other areas had signs of landslides. The shoreline of Lake Icavor was also changed. Water levels were higher, so the lake covered much more land area. Since then, the water level is about halfway back down to normal. Many of the reeds in the area are blown over and lying on the ground. Pieces of blue algae litter the shore, showing the extent of the waterline before the water level began to recede.

Our path around Lake Icavor might take just a little longer, but we are still making good progress despite the obstacles we have faced.